1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for applying surgical clips to body tissue during open, laparoscopic or endoscopic procedures and, more particularly, to a surgical clip applier having jaws configured and adapted to withstand torsional forces acting thereon.
2. Background of Related Art
In laparoscopic and endoscopic surgical procedures, a small incision is made in the patient's body to provide access for a cannula device. Once extended into the patient's body, the cannula provides an access port which allows insertion of various surgical instruments, through the cannula, for acting on organs, blood vessels, ducts or body tissue that can be far removed from the incision. In many instances, several small incisions must be made in the patient's body in order to provide access of several instruments into the patient's body. Undoubtably, the more incisions required, the greater the trauma inflicted on the patient's body.
In surgical procedures, it is often necessary or desirable for a surgeon to grasp and/or blunt dissect in conjunction with applying surgical clips to a target area. Often, this requires the surgeon to make two incisions, one for the blunt dissection instrument and one for the endoscopic applier. However, recently, in order to reduce the trauma inflicted on the patient's body, surgeons have begun to perform blunt dissections using the distal end of an endoscopic fastener or clip applier in order to perform the blunt dissection itself. In so doing, the surgeon eliminates the need to make extra incisions or to repeatedly, alternately insert the clip applier and then the blunt dissector.
When performing a blunt dissection, the distal end of a dissection instrument is used to separate or divide tissue by dividing the interconnecting membrane through repeated twisting and/or separating actions. For example, if the distal end of a surgical fastener or clip applier instrument with jaws were to be used for blunt dissection, the distal end of the jaws would be pressed into the interconnecting membrane and the jaws would then be opened and/or twisted, which opening and/or twisting would separate the interconnecting membrane. The procedure might be repeated as often as needed in order to fully separate the adjacent corporal bodies.
Thus, the need exists for a surgical fastener or clip applier and, more particularly, to a jaw mechanism for a surgical fastener or clip applier which is configured and adapted to withstand torsional forces acting at least on a distal end thereof.